I Have A Question...

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I am able to play the Piano (as some of you are aware) but not like most people. I was never trained by anyone nor can I learn how to play a tune exactly simply by hearing it. I can tell by listening to it the range/pitch it is supposed to be played in, but from there, I figure it out on my own and generally am able to come close to the original tune (if not exactly). Does anyone know what this type of memory/learning is called (or does it fall under "learning by ear")? Any help would be appreciated.

Do you mean this -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_music_by_ear
I can do that too.

Ok, now I'm curious. I play the guitar - have done so for years, even recorded a few albums with a band. But I can't play by ear very well ... I'm a visual thinker, and I learn a song by creating geometric shapes and patterns on the fretboard from its notes. Triangles, rhombi, staggered lines of varying length that alternate between minimum and maximum numbers, that sort of thing. I'm sure it's the dumbest way to play an instrument, but it kinda worked out for me. Seems I'm not the only one who plays in strange ways.

This is the only way I've ever been able to learn my music; I sing, but I can't read music to learn it that way. If I hear a song only once or twice, I can sing it back perfectly.

Yes, 'by ear' is the term.

I play by ear, it's just easier to do than reading music...